Not all people who are rich and famous for operating successful businesses hold MBA degrees. Some of them achieved success through luck, creativity, and cunning.

But even the successful business person who leveraged skill and character – and lucky breaks – into commercial success probably turned, at some point along the rise to riches, to some well-trusted advisor, or even a team of them, who do in fact hold MBA degrees.

MBA degrees were first awarded in the United States, in an effort to scientifically harness the complexity of factors driving that mysterious force that has come to be known as American ingenuity.

With beginnings in the Industrial Age in America, MBA degrees were often cited as one of the most beneficial factors involved with the burgeoning success of the era. That and a whole lot of really hard work.

The story of success in America during the Industrial Age led to the adaptation of MBA degrees around the world. Now many colleges and universities in the US and beyond offer MBA degree programs.

Most major universities offer MBA degrees and some schools actually specialize in them. Depending upon the location and other factors, people today are earning MBA degrees by attending school on part-time as well as full-time bases and others offer distance-learning opportunities, too, via the internet or correspondence courses.

So popular, and competitive, is today’s MBA degree that prestigious publications, such as the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Fortune magazines, publish lists of schools offering MBA degrees by rank, in much the same fashion as Forbes magazine honors the ultra-rich and People magazine celebrates the sexy.

Far-reaching results such as fame, fortune, and even sexiness, may not be guaranteed to everyone who earns MBA degrees but the chances of landing a very well-paying job with prospects for above-average advancement over the course of a satisfying career built on steady employment is a pretty impressive goal by most people’s standards.

And a touch of luck, creativity, and cunning along the way won’t hurt, either.